The present invention relates to a stabilizing device for stabilizing a vehicle or carriage of an aerial tramway or cableway system. More specifically, the invention relates to an improvement in and for a stabilizing device for arresting rolling and/or pitching of the vehicle or carriage.
For simplifying the following descriptions, we mean the word "carriage" to include not only the carriage per se but also the vehicle, and the word "cableway" to include not only a cableway but also a tramway.
As will be well-known, there have been various aerial cableway systems for transporting passengers and/or articles contained within the carriage or carriages which travel along the cableway. Such cableway systems have been used for long mountain ascents and to cross canyons and rivers. Cableway systems are also used in factories as sections of automatic manufacturing systems. A cableway system generally comprises a cable suspended by two or more stationary towers and defining the cableway and one or more carriages travelling along the cableway. The carriage is provided with an electric driving means driven by electric power supplied through electric power collecting means.
Generally, the carriage travels along the cableway from one station to another station. Upon travelling the carriage is apt to sway in the rolling direction and/or pitching direction. Such swaying can, for example, cause the carriage to collide with parts of the station or the stationary tower, and can cause damage and injury.
A stabilizing device has comprised two bars, fixed to the station, formed in a substantially V-shaped or cross-sectional trumpet-shape with the opening of the V-shape or trumpet-shape facing the carriage as it approaches thereto, and further has comprised a buffer member fixed to the carriage, usually under it, which enters between the bars of the V-shape as the carriage comes thereinto. If the carriage is swinging as it comes into the station, therefore, by the bumping of the buffer member against the bars, this swinging is restrained.
In practice this system is only able to control mild swinging of the carriage, and it is necessary to slow down the carriage before it enters the station, in order to keep the forces exerted on the bars within a level which their fixing can stand, and which will not damage the buffer member or the carriage. In addition, this system is not adapted to restrain yaw movments of the carriage.
Further, in the conventional stabilizing device, there are required substantially heavy buffer members which cause increased weight of the carriage. Particularly, when several carriages are joined to travel together, the buffer members provided on respective carriages cause substantially heavy weight to be suspended on the supporting cable. This may result in substantially higher cost of the aerial transport system.